It's All Politics

9:53 am

Wed July 11, 2012

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., thanks supporters at his primary election night party in Chicago on March 20.

M. Spencer GreenAP

A source close to Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., says his staff or doctors could provide more information on the condition of the congressman as early as today, NPR's David Schaper reports.

Jackson took a leave of absence a month ago, but his office has been vague about the circumstances.

On June 25, his office released a brief statement saying Jackson, 47, was being treated for exhaustion and had been on medical leave since June 10. Last week, another statement said Jackson's condition was more serious than previously thought, that he had been grappling with "certain physical and emotional ailments privately for a long period of time," and that he would require extended inpatient treatment.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, the congressman's father, tells Schaper, who reported Wednesday on NPR's Morning Edition: "The crisis is deeper than we thought it was. But the good news is, he's under good supervision. He's been in touch with his mother and his wife, and he's on the rebound. To me, that's the good news about it all."

Some congressional colleagues are now calling on Rep. Jackson's office to release more information.

"I think that he has a responsibility to give us more information, and I'm not demanding that information, but I think the people of his congressional district deserve it," says Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. "The people of Illinois deserve it. If he's going to stand for re-election, you guys [reporters] are going to demand it."

Jackson is up for re-election in November in his heavily Democratic Chicago district.